Death of a child

For parents the agony of losing a child at any age is unparalleled. There is no age or point in time that makes it any easier. No parent ever expects that they will have to deal with the death of their child.

It is an event that is totally contrary to the natural order we expect life to follow. The feelings the loss evokes in parents have been compared to a physical amputation.

This devastating loss carries with it the loss of the future, the hopes, dreams and potential that can never be fulfilled. The longing for the child and the feeling of emptiness can last a lifetime.

Parents may suffer feelings of guilt - they believe that the child was their responsibility and it was their duty to keep them safe. Was there something they could have done to prevent their child's death? The complexity of the loss may be intensified if the parent had a part in the child's death, for instance through a car crash.